Container racks



Sept. 6,:1960 E. J. FESER CONTAINER RACKS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed May 20, 1957 INVENTQR. ,4 uener, fieefi/er Warre/ flrraeusys.

Sept. 6, 1960 E. J. FESER 2,951,599

CONTAINER RACKS Filed May 20, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 53144490 rl F2552,

INVENTOR.

x uebmi/x' BeeA/er H a/v'e/ United States 1 V This invention relates to container racks and more particularly to an improved container rack for suspenda plurality of containers which may be individually removed from the rack.

in many instances in the home and in industry it is .desirable to suspend a group of containers from a rack branch a way that the containers may be individually removed from the rack and replaced without disturbing other containers which are held in the rack.

AccQrding l, it is one object of the present invention to provide an improved container rack by means of a plurality of containers may be stored. Another object of the present invention is to provide a container rack by means of which a row of containers -rnay be suspended from a support. additional object of the present invention is to (provide an improved container rack in Which a plurality of containers may be supported in rows and tiers with ea-ch of the containers being accessible for removal from n ws Briefly, in accordance with the invention, one or more .container supporting sections are formed in a configure -tion in which there is provided a plurality of fingers or guides and a plurality of joining sections are connected to the fingers to provide open-ended receivers from which individual containers may be suspended. Where odd .siged containers are to be stored, the invention provides a special adapter by means of which a container may be sgspended from the rack, In a particular embodiment of the invention, several of the container supportingsections are joined together to form a multiple container supporting rack inwhich the containers are supported in rows and tiers from a rotatable jh-anger.

Abetter understanding of the invention may be had ,f rorn a reading of the following detailed description and an inspection of the drawings, in which:

1 Hg. 1 is an elevational view of a multiple tiered .eontainer rack constructed in accordance with the inven- IiO i l Fig, 2 is a sectional View of the container rack of Fi 1 tak n al l Fig. 3 is a partial sectional View of the container rack of Fig. 1 taken along line 3--3;

Fig. 41 is a partial sectional view of the container rack of Fig. 2 taken along line 4-4; 1

Fig, 5 is a perspective view of a portion of the container, racl; of Fig.1 illustrating a rotatable hanger;

J. Fig. 6 is an elevational view of a container rack inolnding a single row of container receiving sections; *fFig, 7 is a sectional view taken along line 7-7 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 7 including a special adapter by means of which odd sized containersmay be suspended from the container rack;

Fig.- 9 is a partial sectionalview of Fig. 8 taken along .iline 959.; and

Fig. 10 is a sectional view of the adapter of Fig. 9 taken along line 10-40.

atentO In Figs. 1-5 there is shown a multiple tiered container rack in which the upper tier comprises a pair of con-. tainer receiving units 11 and 12 and a lower tier con prisinga pair of container receiving units 13 and 14. Each of the container receiving units 11-14 may be constructed of steel wire formed in the configuration shown, in which a plurality of fingers or guides are held in fixed position by V-shaped joining sections. For ex ample, in the container receiving unit 11 the Wire is formed with four fingers or guides 15, 16, .17 and 18 between which lie the'V-shaped portions 19, 20 and 21. Each of such fingers or guides is in the form of a U- bend with the sides of the U-bend being substantially parallel to each other and the sides of each U-bend being substantially parallel to the sides of the other U-bends. At the ends of each of the wires are formed loops by means 01": which the container receiving units may be supported. For example, the container receiving unit 11 has the loops 22 and 23 formed at its ends The fingers or U-bends 15, 16, 17 and 18 are spaced apart by a predetermined distance corresponding to a dimension of the container to be suspended from the rack. As illustrated in Fig. 2 each of the jars 24 and 25 includes an annular restriction or groove between a bead below the cap portion and the body of the jar. By properly spacing the fingers at a distance slightly greater than the diameter of the jars at the restricted portion, the jars may be slipped between the guides and suspended from the container receiving units.

Between the end loops and the end fingers of each of the container receiving units 1114 the wire is bent to provide two extension arms which holds the container receiver portions of the units outwardly from the loops at an angle. Such extension arms appear best in Fig. 2, which shows the container receiving unit '11 as having its end finger 15 joined to the loop 22 by the extension arm 26. By proper forming of the wire comprising each of the container receiving units 11-14, the fingers and V-shaped sections cooperate to provide a row of container receivers aligned in substantially the same plane with the apex of each of the V-shaped seCtiQ s falling in substantially the plane of the loops.

In the multiple tiered rack of Figs. l-5, the lower tier comprising the container receiving units 13 and 14 i suspended from the upper tier comprising the container receiving units 11 and 1'2. For this purpose,the container receiving units 11 and 12 are fastened back to back with a pair of suspension rods 27 and 28 joined between the ends of the units. Although other methods of fastening the units and the suspension rods together may be employed, in the multiple tiered rack of Figs. 1-5, conventional cap screws and bolts extend through the loops at each point of intersection. Thus, the loop 22 of the container receiving unit 11 is joined to the corresponding loop of the container receiving unit 12 along with the suspension rod 27 by means of a cap screw and nut combination 29. In like fashion, the end loop 23 of the container receiving unit 11 is joined to the corresponding loop of the container receiving unit 12 along with the suspension rod '28 by means of a cap screw and nut combination 3% Similarly, the container receiving units 13 and 14 and the suspension rods 27 and 28 are joined 'by means of the cap screw and nut combinations 31 and 32.

The multiple tiered container rack of Figs. 14 may he rotatably suspended from a support by means of a hanger 3 3 which is adapted to receive a portion of the V-shaped sections at the center of the container receiving units 11 and 12 forming the upper tier of the rack. The hanger 33 maybe formed of stiflf steel wire at one end of which is a loop surrounding a fastener comprising a bolt 34 which is adapted to be threaded into and hung from a support as shown. Ihe loop of the hanger 33 is free to rotate on the head of the bolt 34 in such a way that the entire rack may be turned to provide easy access to any container suspended from the rack. The wire of the loop is extended to form a collar shown as rectangular, but which may be circular, and which collar supports the units 11 and 12.

In Fig. 6 there is shown a single tier unit 35 which may be fashioned from a stiff piece of continuous steel wire in substantially the same configuration as that described with respect to the carrier receiving unit 11 of Fig. l. The end loops of the unit 35 may be attached to a supporting surface by means of the screws 36 and 3 7.

One advantage of the tier unit 35 when employed singly arises from the fact that the apex of each of the v -shaped sections falls within the plane of the end loops (Fig. 7); Since the extension arms or sections hold the row of container receivers outwardly from the loops at an angle at which the apex of each of the V-shaped sections rests against the support, the entire unit is braced so that the rack is adapted to support relatively heavy containers.

Although, the distance between the fingers of the single unit rack of Fig. 6 and the multiple tiered rack of Figs. 14' should be selected in accordance with the size of the usual container to be suspended, Figs. 8-10 illustrate an adapter which'may be employed where the container is of other than the usual size.

The adapter 38 comprises a cup shaped piece of mathe adapter. On the upper edge of the ring of the adapter 38 is an annular collar which cooperates with the top surface of the container to provide an annular groove 40 of the proper dimension to cooperate with the fingers and V-shaped sections of the racks of'Figs. 1-4' and 5 so that containers of any size, such as the relatively large jar 4 1 of Fig. 8 may be readily suspended fromthe rack. From the above detailed description, it is apparent that through the use of the rack of the invention, either as a multiple tiered rack or as a single unit, containers may be neatly stored in a manner in which any individual container may be easily removed without disturbing other containers suspended from the rack. Although apparatus has been shown and described which is thought to be a preferred embodiment of the invention, it will be appreciated that the apparatus may be adapted to other specific uses without departing from the scope of the inventionv What is claimed is:

1. A wire rack for supporting'a plurality of jars, comprising a tier formed of a single length of wire with each end of the wire being formed in a loop, the loops being disposed in a common plane, the wire being bent to provide two arms of substantially equal length extending in a common direction directly from the loops respectively, that portion of the wire between'the arms being bent into a plurality of alternate U-bends and V-bends with a U-bend being next adjacent each arm respectively, thereby providing two endmost U-bends and the number of U-bends being greater by one than the number of tween the two sides, each V-bendhaving two diverging sides and an apex, the apexes of the V-bends being dis :posed in the plane of the loops, the sides of all U-bends being substantially parallel to each other, aside of each U-bend being directly continuous into a side of a V- .spaces between each pairof next adjacent U -bends being "bend respectively, whereby the -Ll-bends 'openin. a direc- Etion opposite to that in which the V-bends open, the

jar receiving spaces and being substantially equal to each other.- 1 t 2. A wire rack according to claim 1 and including a j 1 second tier formed of a single length of wire bent as a substantial duplicate of the first mentioned tier and spaced below and substantially parallel to the first tier with the loops of said second tier being disposed in the plane of the loops of the first tier, and a pair of supporting rods interconnecting a loop of one tier to a loop of the other tier respectively, and fasteners interconnecting said loops of said tiers and supporting rods. 7 H

3. A wire rack according to claim 2 and including a hanger member comprising a wire portion extending around the centrally disposed V-bend of the first tier, and a bolt swivelly connected to said wire portion for suspending the tiers.

4. A wire rack according to claim 3 and comprising four tiers substantially identical to each other and arranged to provide a pair of upper tiers and a pair of lower tiers with the respective end loops in each pair being axially aligned, and fasteners interconnecting said axially aligned pairs of loops to said supporting rods respectively;

5. A wire rack according to claim 3 and comprising two tiers substantially identical to each other, and arranged with the respective end loops of each tier being axially aligned, and fasteners interconnecting said axially aligned end loops.

6. In combination, a plurality of jars and a wire tier for supporting the jars in a row, each jar having a cover, an adaptor detachably secured upon the cover, a ciIcu'm ferentially continuous annular groove being formed in the adaptor, and being defined between two spaced apart and circumferentially continuous and radially outwardly extending annular enlargements, the lower annular enlargement being the cover, said tier comprising a single length of wire with each end of the wire being formdin a loop, the loops being disposed in a common plane, the wire being bent to provide two arms of substantially equal length extending in a common direction directly from the loops respectively, that portion of the wire between the arms being bent into a plurality of alternate U-bends and V-bends with a U-bend being next adjacent each arm respectively, thereby providing two endmost U-bends and the number of U-bends being greater by one than the number of the V-bends, all of the U-bends and the V-bends being disposed in a common plane at an angle of about 45 with respect to the plane'o'f the loops, each U-bendhaving two substantially parallel sides and a rounded bend between the two sides, each V-bend having two diverging sides andan apex, the apex'esof the V-bends being disposed'in the plane of the loops, the sides of all U-bends being substantially pa'rallel to each other, a side of each U-bend being directlycontinuous into a side of a V-bend respectively, whereby the U-bends open in a direction opposite to that in which the V -bends open, the spacers between each pair of next adjacent U- 'bends being substantially equal to each other, and receiving the jars respectively, with the near sides ofeach pair of U-bends being partially disposed in said-annular grooves of the adaptor respectively. References Cited in the file of this patent .1" UNITED STATES PATENTS V Perry 'V Oct. 17,1899

634,908 715,134 Park Dec. 2,-1902 807,757 Martin Dec. 111 1905 928,195 Henderson r July- 13,1909 954,805 Hitchcock Apr. 12, 1910 1,090,392 Gingras 17,11 914 1,220,650 Le Gore' Mar..27, 1917 1,242,305 Arey Oct. 9,.1917 1,315,823 Dugan Q; Se'pt.- 9,.1919 1,419,163 Mathews June 13,192

(Other references on following page)" 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,436,924 2 557 801 Gold Nov. 14, 1922 Ducorron Nov. 13, 1923 25591060 Crimmel Nov. 4, 1924 Meyer Nov. 18, 1924 5 Lenz June 18, 1940 218,077

6 Hansen Mar. 2, 1948 Shapiro June 19, 1951 Zenick July 3, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany of 1910 

